Chapter 4
“...”
“Ow! Ow, ow!”
Lydia Straw, clinging to my ankle as I dragged her along.
Her clothes were not only filthy with dirt and dust from being dragged along, but were now torn from scraping against the floor.
“...”
Originally, I hadn’t planned to take her with me, but I had no choice.
She’d been muttering something to herself just now.
I didn’t know if I was the only one who could see it, but something like black mist was seeping from her.
I knew that pattern well.
No, I knew it all too well—and hated it.
It was the usual pattern for a game to go off the rails.
She’d mutter like that, then her negative trait would suddenly flare up and she’d turn into a monster.
Then I’d bust my ass trying everything to stop that one thing, only to fail in the end.
As if I’d only done that once or twice.
There was already a scenario in this dungeon where I died. Now Lydia Straw was going to turn into a monster too?
I already had one foot in the coffin. No need to hammer the lid shut too, so I had no choice but to stop her.
For a moment, I considered leaving her at the entrance and coming back, but too much time had already passed.
In the prologue, Aiden Starfive’s team turns into Corrupted as soon as they defeat the boss.
If I took Lydia Straw back to the entrance and returned, I might be too late.
Then I’d have to face the Corrupted who killed Aiden Starfive in the prologue.
“...”
I wasn’t confident I could win a fight against that thing as I was now.
It wasn’t a boss designed to be beaten in the first place.
It was a roaming boss in Chapter 4 that the protagonist defeated—a boss that absolutely had to die.
I might be able to win using Cursed Swordsmanship, but I didn’t want to take that risk if I didn’t have to.
As I walked along, thinking, I heard Gerd’s voice.
“...S-Still, isn’t it a bit much to drag her along like that?”
Unable to watch Lydia being dragged along by my ankle any longer, Gerd whispered to me.
Despite his voice trembling with fear, I guess he still had some compassion in him.
Well, Lydia Straw was pretty.
Big doe-like eyes, wavy brown hair, and a huge—befitting her title as a candidate for sainthood—
I looked away.
Of course, that was all before she became a monster.
When she became a monster...
“...”
Just remembering that hideous sight made me feel a little sick.
Ah, I wanted to leave her behind.
But if I left her, she’d turn into a monster, wouldn’t she?
And I couldn’t leave her?
I had no choice.
I stopped, and only then did Lydia Straw, who’d been dragged along, look up at me.
“Get up, woman.”
“Y-Yes...”
Only then did Lydia Straw get to her feet, still holding on to my leg.
By now, her uniform was torn in several places, exposing bits of her body, but I felt nothing at all.
More than that, what came to mind first was the scene of Lydia Straw transforming.
Her head splits open just like that, and from inside...
“Eyes down.”
“Yes...”
Lydia lowered her eyes.
“No, lower your head. Don’t show me your face.”
“Yes...”
Lydia bowed her head deeply.
Now all I could see was the top of her head, not her face.
Phew. Now that I couldn’t see her face, I could finally breathe.
“...What are you looking at?”
“Nothing, sir.”
Gerd hurriedly lowered his head at my words.
“What are you doing? Raise your head.”
“I-I... Is that all right, sir?”
“I said raise your head.”
“Yes!”
Gerd raised his head again.
Why was he keeping his head down?
Just look at those beetle-like eyes, that huge body, and that shield. How comforting.
Our dependable tank. You have to keep protecting us, okay?
I rubbed my tingling arm and sorted through my memories.
I knew the prologue dungeon.
No, I knew every route by heart.
Because Dark Fantasy Saga was a game where you couldn’t skip the prologue.
That’s why I knew what it consisted of.
The first thing inside was auditory and visual hallucinations, one of the phenomena created by the Corrupted <The Devourer>.
Attacking thin air dealt no damage, and the player kept hearing sounds.
The way to break the phenomenon was to destroy items the Corrupted had hidden nearby.
The problem was, those items were hidden randomly.
They seemed to randomize them every time, too, so there was no fixed drop table.
In other words, every playthrough, you had to put up with the hassle of finding all of them.
That alone ate up an incredible amount of time.
And spending time meant giving my former team—in short, the death-flag team—a chance to find the boss first.
I didn’t want that.
So I decided to gamble.
With the Cursed Swordsmanship I had and the strengthened strike I’d gained as my Awe increased,
I thought maybe combining the two could wipe this place out in one go.
The result was what you see now.
“...”
Pebbles were falling from the ceiling.
That was what happened when I combined Gale with a strengthened strike.
I’d blown the whole place away, quite literally.
[Debuff: Muscle Cramps]
[You have mild muscle cramps in your arm. If you continue using skills, it will worsen into a mild sprain.]
My arm had cramped up as payment, but this was nothing.
I continued thinking as I walked.
That took care of the first threat easily.
All that remained was the Corrupted living in this labyrinth, and the death-flag teammates who might suddenly snap and kill me.
They might not be on my team anymore, but in the original story, Aiden Starfive was killed by one of them. Better safe than sorry.
Come to think of it, why did the woman in the pointy hat turn into a Corrupted in the prologue?
Was it just a game mechanic?
Or was there something in reality I didn’t know about?
I recalled the text from the game.
<Faced with something horrific, she screamed until her voice gave out.>
<Now, all she could hear in her head was the sound of worms gnawing. Scrape, scrape.>
When I was playing the game, I just thought it was a device for the game and moved on... but thinking about it now, it was a little strange.
Almost as if Aiden Starfive was supposed to die.
I continued walking, lost in thought.
“To the right.”
“Yes.”
“This time, to the left.”
“Yes.”
“Straight ahead.”
“...Do you happen to know the way...?”
As I guided Gerd along with him walking ahead of me, he turned around and looked at me.
Though he still couldn’t look me straight in the eye.
I didn’t want to answer. What should I do?
Right.
“...Why do you want to know?”
“N-No reason.”
All you had to do in these situations was glare intensely.
[The two of them are overwhelmed by your bizarre charisma!]
[Awe: 7%]
My Awe went up like this, too. All I had to do was frown, and Awe would farm itself.
As I walked forward without hesitation, something appeared before my eyes.
“Eek.”
Lydia sucked in a breath.
It was a person.
Its hair had all fallen out, its hands and feet were covered in blood, and it walked on all fours instead of upright—something too grotesque to call human.
Its back and torso were covered in scratches, and there were empty holes where its eyes should have been.
The tutorial boss, the first Corrupted the player encountered: <The Devourer>.
Since it was the first boss you encountered, it wasn’t hard to deal with.
You could say it was a boss meant to show you what combat in Dark Fantasy Saga was like.
So the strategy was simple.
Defend when it let out a cry, attack when it wasn’t screaming.
Of course, I had no intention of following the guide.
I gripped the hilt.
With a click, the sword slid free.
I’d been wanting to try something, anyway.
Up until now, the only Cursed Swordsmanship I’d used was Gale. In other words, just a move to keep enemies at bay.
If I took it a step further...
My body seemed to remember the stance. I bent my knees and launched myself forward like a bullet.
The walls around me streaked by like afterimages, and <The Devourer> opened its mouth.
-Kreeee!!!
Its scream echoed through the chamber.
[You are seeing hallucinations and hearing voices!]
[However, you resisted with your formidable mental fortitude!]
But I was faster.
-Shhk!
I’d already sliced through <The Devourer> and come to a stop behind it.
A moment later, with a wet crack, it split in two and died.
One of the main techniques of Cursed Swordsmanship: Swift Slash.
The first time I got hit by that, I couldn’t believe it.
“...”
[Debuff: Mild Ankle Sprain]
[Excessive exertion has strained your ankle. It will heal with time.]
A status window appeared, and this time my ankle throbbed.
But I could still walk.
So that’s roughly how much strain it causes.
I swung my sword to shake off the blood, then sheathed it.
When I turned around, the two of them were staring at me with stunned expressions.
“H-How...?”
“I-I couldn’t even see...”
The two of them mumbled, unable to close their mouths, as if they were looking at something unbelievable.
“...Was that the mercenary captain’s technique...?”
Then the two of them murmured, narrowing their eyes.
<-No!>
At the same time, I heard something in my ear.
What was that?
[A curse speaks to you.]
[However, you resisted with your formidable mental fortitude!]
Ah, Cursed Swordsmanship.
It was cursed swordsmanship by design, and using it supposedly made you hear curses while draining your health and mental strength.
But it seemed my Mentality stat could even nullify the sound of the curse.
“...What are you looking at?”
And when I looked at the two of them, still staring at me in a daze,
[The two of them are in awe of your feat!]
[Awe: 10%]
[Your next strike has been strengthened!]
The status window appeared again.
So a strike was strengthened every 5% or so?
For now, let’s get out as quickly as possible.
We had a ticking time bomb named Lydia Straw with us. She’d almost turned into a Corrupted just a moment ago.
As I thought that,
-Bang!
With a crash and a cloud of dust, a figure appeared before me.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the figure.
It was a man walking on all fours, his spine ripped out.
“Y-You...!”
The monster muttered in a grotesque voice, and its eyes met mine.
Ugh, gross.
As I was thinking that, the monster turned its gaze elsewhere.
As though it were afraid to meet my eyes.
It looked away from me, then turned to Lydia.
“If only you weren’t here...!”
"M-Me...? N-not him...?"
Lydia murmured in confusion. I was just as confused.
Spine... Corrupted...
As I searched through my memories, I remembered.
Of course, this wasn’t someone who was supposed to become a Corrupted right now.
Only then did I recognize him.
It was Benjamin.
He growled,
then stepped in front of Lydia, as if protecting her.
"Huh?"
Leaving her behind as she made a bewildered sound, I drew my sword.
In the original story, Lydia was bullied terribly by Benjamin.
In one of the routes where Lydia went mad, she was driven insane after being ostracized by other academy students, including Benjamin.
Why me?
That was something Lydia often said.
<Ending Route 3, The Bystander’s End.>
<The world isn’t the only thing you need to protect.>
I recalled the words from the bad ending and stepped in front of her.
At this rate, Lydia Straw would go mad.
No, maybe it was already too late.
Thinking that, I turned around,
"..."
I met Lydia’s eyes as she looked up at me with her hands clasped together.
She looked exactly as she always did, completely unchanged.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I couldn’t afford to waste any more time here.
“...Step back.”
I murmured calmly, drew my sword, and met his gaze.
I felt as though a delicate finger had caught hold of my collar.